Themes: Living With Disability, Sibling Relationships, Actor's Life
Main Cast: Matt Damon, Greg Kinnear, Eva Mendes, Wen Yann Shih, Pat Crawford Brown
Release Year: 2003
Country: US
Run Time: 118 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG13
Plot
After tackling schizophrenia, obesity, and the inner workings of the vascular system (as represented by an animated Chris Rock), Peter and Bobby Farrelly set their comedic sights on a set of conjoined twins in this broad comedy. Written and directed by the non-twin Farrellys, Stuck on You stars Greg Kinnear and Matt Damon as, respectively, Walt and Bob Tenor, brothers who are so close, they're quite literally joined at the hip. While life in their sleepy, welcoming Martha's Vineyard burgh is comfortable -- the Tenor brothers are the quickest short-order chefs in town, unstoppable hockey goalies, and the most unlikely pair of dinner-theater thespians -- Walt longs to make good on his lifelong dream of becoming a professional actor. The shy, reticent Bob acquiesces to his self-assured brother's wish to move to Hollywood, in part to meet his longtime Internet romantic interest, May (Wen Yann Shih). The twosome finds Tinseltown to be less accommodating than life back east, however, as Walt and Bob come up against flea-ridden apartments, surly bar patrons, and a paucity of roles for actors with an extraneous person attached to them. Things begin to look up when they run into Cher on a studio backlot: Eager to end her commitment to star in a cheesy detective show, she casts Walt as her co-star, hoping the program will fail. When her plan backfires, however, the brothers find themselves on the cusp of fame and fortune -- and consider undergoing the risky surgery that could separate them forever. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
Review
Like non-identical conjoined twins, a Farrelly brothers film typically consists of broad gross-out humor unnaturally welded to overweening sentiment. It's a dangerous mixture, as proven by the accusations of hypocrisy leveled at Shallow Hal. On the one hand, we were supposed to sympathize with the obese woman played by Gwyneth Paltrow; on the other hand, we were expected to laugh at the fat jokes and revel in Hal's fat-phobic misogyny. The same dynamic is at work in Stuck on You, but here, in their story of the brotherly love between conjoined twins played by Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear, there's a better balance between outrageous humor and heartfelt sentiment. The fantastic nature of the setup allows the Tenor brothers' physiological attachment to be read as metaphor. This, combined with the filmmakers' genuine affection for outcasts and the people who accept them, allows the film to transcend its bizarre one-joke premise (pounded to within an inch of its life in sight gag after sight gag, and reaching its comic peak early, when aspiring actor Walt [Kinnear] performs a one-man show with his panic-stricken brother in tow) and find a soul. A wondrously sweet, goofy performance from Damon helps tremendously in this regard. The brothers' penchant for stunt casting is occasionally a distraction (NFL stars Tom Brady and Lawyer Milloy as computer geeks?), but as prospective love interests, Eva Mendes is winningly ebullient and Wen Yann Shih is charming. And Seymour Cassel does a hilarious turn as a sleazy old-school agent. The film doesn't have the nasty edge of previous Farrelly successes like There's Something About Mary and Kingpin, but like those comedic gems, it works so beautifully, not just because it generates easy laughs, but also because it manages to make us care about its absurd protagonists. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
Ray "Rocket" Valliere - Rocket; Tommy Songin - Tommy; Terence Bernie Hines - Moe; Cher - Herself; Jackie Flynn - Howard; Seymour Cassel - Morty O'Reilly; Jesse Ventura; Dane Cook - Officer Fraioli; Skyler Stone - George; Stephen Saux - Drive-By Heckler
Credit
Arlan Jay Vetter - Art Director, Richard Fojo - Art Director, Hal Olofsson - Associate Producer, Rick Montgomery - Casting, Adam Shankman - Choreography, Deena Appel - Costume Designer, Hal Olofsson - First Assistant Director, Bobby Farrelly - Director, Peter Farrelly - Director, Christopher Greenbury - Editor, Dave Terman - Editor, Marc S. Fischer - Executive Producer, Manish Raval - Musical Direction/Supervision, Tom Wolfe - Musical Direction/Supervision, Tony Gardner - Makeup Special Effects, Sidney Bartholomew Jr. - Production Designer, Dan Mindel - Cinematographer, Bobby Farrelly - Producer, Peter Farrelly - Producer, Charles B. Wessler - Producer, Bradley Thomas - Producer, Jonathan "Earl" Stein - Sound/Sound Designer, Bobby Farrelly - Screenwriter, Peter Farrelly - Screenwriter, Charles B. Wessler - Screenwriter, Bennett Yellin - Screenwriter, Richard K. Wright - Properties Master, Industrial Light & Magic - Visual Effects, Scott Jacobson - Set Decorator, Garrett Grant - Co-Executive Producer, Mark Charpentier - Co-Executive Producer, Kristofer W. Meyer - Co-Executive Producer
